1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc drive, and more particularly, to an optical disc drive which can be connected to a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, optical disc drives record information on a recording surface of an optical disc, such as a CD or a DVD, or read information from the recording surface. The information is recorded or read by emitting a beam of light from an optical pickup sliding across the optical disc onto the recording surface of the optical disc that is rotating. In particular, slim optical disc drives are manufactured to be very thin so that they can be used in portable computers such as notebook computers.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a conventional slim optical disc drive. Referring to FIG. 1, a tray 20 is slidably installed in a lower case 10. A spindle motor 30 to rotate an optical disc D and an optical pickup 50 to read or write information by accessing the optical disc D while sliding across the optical disc D that is rotating are installed on the tray 20. A main control board 60 to control the operation of the optical disc drive is installed in the lower case 10 and connected to the optical pickup 50 and the spindle motor 30 installed on the tray 20 by an FPC (flexible printed circuit) 70. The FPC 70 is flexibly folded or unfolded in a space between the tray 20 and the lower case 10 as the tray 20 slides. A connecter 80 is provided on the main control board 60 for connection to a portable computer.
Some of the factors that affect the thickness of the slim optical disc drive, include the thickness of driving parts such as the optical pickup 50 mounted on the tray 20 and the thickness of the main control board 60 to control the driving parts 40. In particular, since the main control board 60 is installed between the tray 20 and the lower case 10, if the thicknesses of electric/electronic parts mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of the main control board 60 increase, the thickness of the slim optical disc drive increases accordingly.
Furthermore, slim optical disc drives have recently added the recording/reproducing functions of a CD-R, a CD-RW and/or a DVD reproduction function, in addition to a CD-ROM reproduction function. In this case, to accommodate the above various functions, the optical pickup 50 is made thick and large. Also, since electric parts having various thicknesses are installed on the main control board 60, the thickness of the slim optical disc drive increases.